Jobseekers look to take part in on-site interviews to land jobs in the financial sector at a job fair, Aug. 24. Yonhap

The employment of wage workers in Korea achieved record high growth during the first quarter as the job market has recovered from the impact of the pandemic, data showed Thursday.

The number of paid employee jobs came to 19.75 million in the cited period, up 752,000 from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

It marked the largest on-year increase since the statistics agency began compiling related data in the first quarter of 2018.

By age, the number of jobs for salaried workers rose in all age groups, the first time in four quarters, the data showed.

In particular, jobs for wage workers in their 30s increased for the first time in 10 quarters. The number of such jobs for people in their 30s grew by 19,000 from a year ago.

The number of jobs for those in their 60s or older rose by 378,000. This accounted for more than half of the total job additions in the first quarter as the government has expanded short-term jobs for senior citizens.

By sector, jobs in the health and social welfare segment surged 161,000 and the manufacturing sector added 68,000 jobs on-year.

The accommodation and restaurant sector, a segment hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, also reported an increase of 64,000 jobs.

By gender, the number of jobs for men rose by 298,000, and that for women increased by 454,000, the data showed.

Korea reported job growth for the 17th straight month in July, but the pace of job growth slowed from the previous month as economic uncertainty has heightened. (Yonhap)